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In late August 2003, I observed that one of our younger chinchillas, Boomer, had a slightly wet left eye. At first, it looked like he just slept on the eye funny and that is what caused the moist eye. But after observing a “wet” eye for a week, I became suspicious that something, possibly serious, was causing this problem. Boomer did not seem bothered by the eye; he continued to eat very well and was very active. Boomer did have slightly wet poos, but I attributed it to the cage rearrangement we had done recently. Even something as simple of rearranging cages can sometimes cause a chin stress related problems. I wanted to have a vet examine him anyway, if nothing else, to ease my worries. We had only recently moved to a new area in VA and were still seeking out a vet to match our wonderful and very knowledgeable vet near our previous home. We had an appointment with an “exotic” vet on September 11, 2003, Boomer’s first birthday. Dr. Gina (our First 'New Vet') was very nice, but she finally admitted to us that she had only seen two chinchillas in all her years of practice. She examined Boomer, checking his heartbeat, abdomen and ears. She did not have the proper equipment to examine his molars, but did check his front teeth. Boomer got passing marks on all the tests she performed. Dr. Gina examined Boomer’s left eye and concluded it was a blocked tear duct. She prescribed Vetropolycin Ointment to be applied to Boomer’s eye daily. She advised that if his stool became more abnormal to discontinue the ointment. We had a fecal analysis performed while we were there and the results were negative for giardia. Even though Dr. Gina was extremely nice and was interested in the information we provided her about chinchilla care, I still felt uneasy about the diagnosis. But I followed her directions and sure enough, after two days of the ointment, Boomer’s eye was not healing and his diarrhea became worse. I immediately stopped the Vetropolycin Ointment treatment. By September 29th, we were able to get Boomer’s poos back to normal. One problem solved, one still needing investigation. Boomer’s eye had progressed from just a wet eye to having a white clump starting to form in the corner of his eye. 
Dr. Vanessa performed a multitude of tests. She began with performing a gram stain smear using the white precipitate ('white gunk') present in Boomer’s eye. She discovered an unusually high number of gram positive cocci present. Gram positive cocci are spherical shaped bacterial cells with a thick cell wall that retains the purple stain during the gram staining procedure. By determining gram positive and gram negative classification (the thin/thick walls of the organism), it helps to narrow down which bacteria/organism it might be, how it should be treated and which antibiotic will work best to penetrate the walls of the bacteria. There are beneficial and harmful bacteria in both classifications, but this helps to narrow down the possibilities as to which it is. Cocci refers to the shape of the bacteria; there are also bacilli (rods) and spirilla (spirals). Describing the shape of the bacteria is just another form of identifcation and/or classification. We decided to culture the gram positive cocci that were found present in the gram stain. Dr. Vanessa swabbed Boomer’s eye for the aerobic bacterial culture/sensitivity test. We did not want to treat with antibiotics until we knew exactly what was causing the problem. OVER MEDICATING CHINS CAN CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS AND MASK OTHERS. Boomer’s molars were examined and the molars were found to be asymmetrically lined up. Explanation: The top molars on the left side, under the infected eye, were found to be ground down to the gums, while the bottom left molars were abnormally long. On the right side, it was reverse, his top molars were long, but the bottom molars were ground to the gum line. Dr. Vanessa did not want to jump to the conclusion instantly that his teeth were the cause of his eye problem. After all, Boomer was having no problems eating and didn’t seem bothered by his teeth. She also didn’t want to trim the molars that were longer just in case that created more problems than we were ready to deal with. A cytology report was compiled along with performing another fecal exam. Cytology is the study of the anatomy, physiology, pathology and chemistry of a cell. This study was done to find out where Boomer's problems might be coming from and guide the vet as how to correct them. The tests and a brief explanation of them are listed below. Until the results were in from the variety of tests, we were instructed to wash out Boomer’s eye with saline drops and limit the number of dust baths he took. The tests that were done were as follows: *Aerobic Bacterial Culture/Sensitivity Test: In this test, Boomer’s eye was swabbed and the sample was placed in a saline tube to be shipped to a laboratory for analysis. At the lab, the technicians remove the swab and smear the contents of the swab onto a nutrient rich growth plate. The plate is incubated at an ideal temperature for bacteria to thrive. Usually if there are organisms present, they will grow within 48 hours (with the exception of slow growing bacteria such as Mycobacterium). The main purpose of this test is to determine if bacteria are present and to identify the bacteria so the appropriate treatment is prescribed. *Cytology: This test is performed to look for an infection. *Fecal Analysis: A test for the presence of the giardia parasite. On October 27th, a week later, all the results were in. I have listed below in the table the tests performed, the results of those tests and the treatment. Boomer’s Tests Results *Aerobic Bacterial Culture/SensitivityTest: No Growth on bacterial media Maybe it was a delicate bacteria & needed more specific growth media; There was a large amt of gram pos cocci present in the gram stain 1 drop of Gentamycin drops 3-5 times, daily for one week *Cytology Low grade foreign body reaction Possibly an allergic response? Dust bath the foreign body? Flurbiprofen (Opthalmic prescription drops); One drop daily for one week *Fecal Analysis Low positive number of giardia present Fenbendazole paste 0.28 ml once a day for 5 days, 2 week break; 0.28 ml once a day for 5 days *Also, recommended were frequent eye washes after dust baths Boomer was an excellent patient. He took the Fenbendazole without any fuss, but that may have been due to the dab of strawberry syrup we added to the end of syringe. Boomer had been on Flagyl (also a giardia medication) 8 months prior and lost his appetite and refused the medicine after two days, this is why we decided to use the Fenbendazole this time. We found Fenbendazole to be gentler on his stomach and he continued to eat normally while taking it. All chins are different, you may find the opposite with your chin. Boomer tolerated the eye drops given by my fiancé Darren. 
On December 2nd, Boomer’s fecal analysis came back positive for giardia after the first round of Fenbendazole. Dr. Vanessa prescribed another round of the drug, but this time to treat him for 7 days, instead of 5 days, (with 0.28ml each day), a two week break and then treatment for another 7 days. Boomer’s eye fluctuated from looking healthy to starting to look wet again. One morning I woke up to find that his eye was almost sealed shut with thick strings of crusted “goo”. 
In December, three months from the onset, I finally found an exotic vet clinic that was only 90 minutes away so I made an appointment for Boomer on Monday morning. Our vet, Dr. David (our second 'New vet') was waiting for us and he had received Boomer’s files from Dr. Vanessa. In the preliminary exam, Boomer did great. He had gained weight, his heart and lungs sounded good, there were no obvious bumps on his jaw line and his lymph nodes were not swollen. His incisors were a good yellow/orange color and he was so full of energy. We opted to have x-rays done and a closer look at his back teeth. Dr. David was kind enough to take pictures of Boomer’s back teeth for us while he used the otoscope. 
Dr. David said that his molars looked pretty good; the bottom left molars were trimmed just a little bit. According to the x-rays, Boomers teeth roots looked good, no signs of overgrowth. However, one tooth was looked upon as being suspicious, but Dr. David wanted to consult with Dr. Scott, who is more experienced in analyzing x-rays. Dr. David prescribed a triple antibiotic solution (Neomycin and Polymixin B Sulfates and Gramicidin) to be applied to Boomer’s eye 3 times daily for 14 days. These eye drops fight gram negative and gram positive organisms. As well as the triple antibiotic solution being applied on the outside of the eye, Baytril was also prescribed, 0.3mls, twice a day for 14 days. The idea of using internal and external antibiotics was to hit this infection from both sides. Boomer’s fecal analysis was negative and so we discontinued with Fenbendazole. Dr. David called us back the following day after his consultation with Dr. Scott, concerning the x-ray on Boomer's teeth. They both agreed that the one tooth looked suspicious, but could not make a definite conclusion that Boomer’s eye problem was a direct result of this tooth, even though the tooth looked to be slightly overgrown. We made the decision to stick with the antibiotics first and call Dr. David in 10 days for an update. On December 23rd, the 7th day of treatment with Baytril and the triple antibiotic drops, Boomer’s eye was not getting better. It had not sealed shut since we started the treatment, but his eye was still producing the white precipitate. I called Dr. David and we decided to schedule an appointment for a re-check. ALL ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENTS WERE STOPPED, SO THAT WE COULD PERFORM AN ACCURATE ADDITIONAL BACTERIAL AND FUNGAL SENSITIVITY TEST. Boomer began to loose weight after he went off the antibiotics, which is the opposite of what we expected (Chins usually loose weight on antibiotics and gain weight when off of them ... another first for us). The night before Boomer’s follow-up appointment (December 26th), Boomer had his first (and our first) hair ring. We took care in removing the ring, but Boomer’s penis did not go back entirely into the sheath, because of the swelling. I was glad that we were seeing the vet the following day. On December 27th, Dr. David greeted us with a big smile. As for Boomer’s penis, Dr. David dabbed a bit of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on the swollen area. DMSO acts to pull out excess fluid and decrease swelling. As for Boomer’s eye, it was looking slightly better (of course the day he would see the vet), but we still wanted to check him out. Dr. David dropped Florescein stain into Boomer’s eye. The purpose of this test was to see if there were any blockages in Boomer’s tear duct. If there is no blockage, the stain will come out his nose, however, if there is a blockage, the stain will not come out the nose. We attempted twice with the Florescein drops, but nothing came out of Boomer’s nose. Due to this result, Dr. David suspected that Boomer’s blockage could either be scar tissue from a previous infection, or that suspicious tooth that he noted in the previous visit. We still swabbed Boomer’s eye for a bacterial and fungal sensitivity test, just to confirm that it was not a simple problem with a simple fix. A week later, on January 5th, Dr. David informed me that both the bacterial and fungal tests were negative. Below is the email from Dr. David explaining my options: “Clinical signs are most likely due to blockage of the tear duct. It may be from obstruction from tooth root issues or scarring from previous infections. As we discussed previously, treatment may have to consist of chronic antibiotic management of the eye with periodic flare-ups. More aggressive options do include tooth removal, but since all the teeth sit well within the gingiva, they will be hard to remove and the surgery does have potential for complications.” Dr. David and I further discussed the options and decided that with Boomer eating well, gaining weight and being so full of energy, we would postpone any more aggressive measures at this time. Boomer had been through enough stress for now. We give Boomer eye drops and wash his eye out periodically with saline drops to keep the eye from sealing shut and causing him problems. We continue with very few dust baths and keeping a very close eye on his eating habits and his poos. As of January 21st, four months later, Boomer has not been to the vet in almost a month and is doing great. He continues to eat well and his eye hasn’t sealed shut since December. He is enjoying just being a stay at home chinchilla. Boomer has been our problem child for the past few months, but luckily has forgiven us for everything we have had to do to him to keep him well. We hope that Boomer continues to thrive and he goes at least a year without visiting the vet. |